Boiling Navel Tea, Biting a Man’s Leg
One Hundred Pictures by Kyōsai (暁斎百図, Kyōsai Hyakuzu) - Plate 9
One Hundred Pictures by Kyōsai (暁斎百図, Kyōsai Hyakuzu) - Plate 9
This satirical woodblock print by Kawanabe Kyōsai visualizes two well-known Japanese idioms through grotesque imagination and physical humor.
The upper scene illustrates the saying “boiling tea on the belly button” (heso de cha o wakasu), an expression meaning something so absurd that one cannot stop laughing. The lower scene shows another idiom — “biting the shin of a parent” (oya no sune o kajiru), which describes someone living off their parents’ support.
By transforming abstract phrases into vivid, exaggerated figures, Kawanabe Kyōsai combines visual wit with linguistic play, reflecting the Edo–Meiji taste for satirical and moral humor. Such prints often served both as entertainment and social commentary, turning familiar proverbs into comically literal images.
Kawanabe Kyōsai
Woodblock print, ca. 1863–1866
From the series: One Hundred Pictures by Kyōsai (暁斎百図, Kyōsai Hyakuzu)
Format: small-format sheet (koban-ban), first edition
Publisher: Wakasaya Yoichi (若狭屋与市)
Dimensions: approx. 13 × 18 cm
Medium: polychrome woodblock print (nishiki-e) on handmade washi paper
Edition & Printing Details
This sheet belongs to the first edition of Kyōsai Hyakuzu, published between 1863–1866.
Note
This description is part of an evolving research project. Very few collections of this kind exist worldwide, and each newly studied sheet refines our understanding of the series. The catalogue will be continuously updated and expanded — leaving room for fresh interpretations, new connections, and unexpected discoveries that keep the collection alive and intriguing.
The upper scene illustrates the saying “boiling tea on the belly button” (heso de cha o wakasu), an expression meaning something so absurd that one cannot stop laughing. The lower scene shows another idiom — “biting the shin of a parent” (oya no sune o kajiru), which describes someone living off their parents’ support.
By transforming abstract phrases into vivid, exaggerated figures, Kawanabe Kyōsai combines visual wit with linguistic play, reflecting the Edo–Meiji taste for satirical and moral humor. Such prints often served both as entertainment and social commentary, turning familiar proverbs into comically literal images.
Kawanabe Kyōsai
Woodblock print, ca. 1863–1866
From the series: One Hundred Pictures by Kyōsai (暁斎百図, Kyōsai Hyakuzu)
Format: small-format sheet (koban-ban), first edition
Publisher: Wakasaya Yoichi (若狭屋与市)
Dimensions: approx. 13 × 18 cm
Medium: polychrome woodblock print (nishiki-e) on handmade washi paper
Edition & Printing Details
This sheet belongs to the first edition of Kyōsai Hyakuzu, published between 1863–1866.
Note
This description is part of an evolving research project. Very few collections of this kind exist worldwide, and each newly studied sheet refines our understanding of the series. The catalogue will be continuously updated and expanded — leaving room for fresh interpretations, new connections, and unexpected discoveries that keep the collection alive and intriguing.